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9 Favorite Comedy Scores
Because everyone’s sense of humor is different, everyone’s taste in comedy films is also different. (Duh!) I’m not usually a big fan of obvious, slapstick humor. I prefer comedy that has a human element,
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9 Favorite Film Scores of 1962
August is my birthday month. Back in school it sucked because kids never bothered to remember your birthday during the summer. As a young adult, I used to have a mental list that I’d
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9 Film Scores That Deserved a Pulitzer
The Pulitzer Prizes, handed out every April, are arguably the most prestigious prizes for journalism, arts and letters, and music in the U.S. Their monetary value is nominal; what matters is the prestige. In
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9 Favorite Science Fiction Film Scores, Vol. 1 – Space
Like many boys who liked to read, my genre of choice during my teenage years was science fiction. And since one of my earliest memories of the outside world was the moon walk, it
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9 Favorite Film Scores of Elmer Bernstein
Few composers in the history of film music are as prolific as Elmer Bernstein. Nearly every film genre has benefited from a Bernstein score. From his early days experimenting with jazz to Westerns and
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Elmer’s Glue
On August 18, 2004, the film music world experienced its third major loss. WhenElmer Bernsteinpassed away, I felt numb. I’m not even sure I could compute the loss, as I was still trying to
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Aloha ‘Oe
It’s tough to make films out of James Michener novels. Some of his shorter novels, such as Sayonara, The Bridges at Toko-Ri, and, of course, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Tales of the South Pacific were adapted into
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Lies, Lies, Lies, Ye-ah
In 2003, I and many film score fans were livid that Elmer Bernstein did not win his second Oscar for FAR FROM HEAVEN (2002). The winner—Elliot Goldenthal for FRIDA—is a fine choice. Goldenthal is
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Frankie Says Relax
The career of Elmer Bernstein encompassed numerous genres—westerns, epics, comedies—but it was his use of jazz that first brought him attention. Bernstein had cut his jazz chops arranging for Glenn Miller’s Army Air Force
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Daddy’s Gonna Buy You a Mockingbird
"Only Aaron Copland could have come as close to creating the musical Americana that [Elmer] Bernstein put into his score." So said Page Cook in his original review of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Even
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